1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a garbage disposal system which includes garbage containers, a garbage-collecting vehicle and a lifting and tilting unit arranged on the garbage-collecting vehicle. The lifting and tilting unit includes a receiving member forming a gripping member or a gripping rail which can be temporarily coupled to an edge structure forming a receiving pocket of the garbage container. The edge structure of the garbage container is located on a front wall of the container body opposite the hinges of the hinged cover of the garbage container. In the region of engagement of the gripping member or gripping rail or of the receiving member, the receiving pocket or edge structure of the garbage containers used in such garbage disposal systems are divided by means of individual ribs or webs or by rib or web systems into several pocket sections which are distributed along the front side of the container body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Garbage disposal systems of the above-described type are well known and are in continuous practical use. Further improvements of such garbage disposal systems are continuously developed, particularly in order to increase the efficiency and the practical service life of the garbage disposal systems Examples for such further developments are described, for example, in EP-A No. 0 098 528, EP-A No. 0 178 491, EP-A No. 0 288 066, DE-A No. 34 20 058 and EP-C 37 03 034.
The new and further developments for improving garbage disposal systems of this type are directed primarily to the construction of the garbage container in order to increase the usefulness of the container because the container is that element of the garbage disposal system which not only is used in a relatively large number but additionally forms the most sensitive link within the garbage disposal chain.
However, improvements of the garbage containers can only be introduced in practice without problems if they are compatible with the remaining links in the already existing garbage disposal system. In other words, the garbage disposal system must be capable of receiving, lifting and tilting the containers at least as well as is the case with respect to the garbage containers already in use.
The so-called receiving member of the lifting and tilting unit operated on the garbage-collecting vehicles, which receiving member is constructed as a gripping member or gripping rail, must be compatible with the edge structures of the garbage containers which are in practical use, because otherwise it would not be possible to avoid substantial difficulties when conversions are carried out in already existing garbage disposal systems.
When garbage collecting vehicles are used which have several lifting and tilting units, it is possible to equip these lifting and tilting units with different receiving members if different types of garbage containers are used simultaneously. However, such an arrangement means that the garbage collecting process is substantially impaired because the two lifting and tilting units cannot usually be used simultaneously.
Another possibility for emptying simultaneously used garbage containers with different edge structures is to provide the receiving members of the lifting and tilting units with special adapters which are particularly adapted to the edge structure of a certain type of the simultaneously used different types of garbage containers.
The above-described possibility is proposed, for example, in DE-A No. 0 185 382. In this case, an adapter is proposed which can be used in conjunction with a receiving member as disclosed by DE-A No. 34 20 058, in order to make it only for emptying garbage containers of novel construction but also garbage containers of the old type.
However, in such a case it is a disadvantage that the adapter must be always available at the garbage-collecting vehicle in such a way that it can be placed on or removed from the conventional receiving member as required, usually in an irregular sequence.